Until the End
by foreverliesl28
Summary: Husband and wife, back to back, until the end.


Disclaimer: Not mine.  
A/N: Many thanks to my fantastic betas, Katie and Julia! =) I've always loved Lupin and Tonks, and it always bothered me that J. K. Rowling never gave them a proper death scene, so this is my interpretation. Enjoy, and don't forget to R/R!

"REMUS!"

Lupin spun around as he heard his anguished wife's scream, and spied her running toward him through the mobs of dueling wizards and witches, ducking under a jet of green light as death missed her by inches.

"Dora, what are you doing here? You should be at home with Teddy!" Lupin exclaimed angrily as he shot a jinx at Avery, narrowly missing Percy Weasley's head as he struggled against Thicknesse.

"I couldn't stand not knowing, Remus," Tonks retorted adamantly as she shot a curse at Amycus Carrow, who laughed and lazily deflected the spell as one would swat away a pesky fly. They were struggling back to back now, pressed against each other in the mob that filled the Great Hall. Tonks no longer feared for her life; she knew that the Order would build her up and, someday, tear her down. No, she feared for her husband, her strong, stubborn, pain-in-the-arse husband, and what would happen to him and their son. What would happen to Teddy if something happened to her and Remus? These thoughts rushed through her mind as she shot spell after spell at Carrow, while Lupin simultaneously fended off Avery.

Tears began to cloud Lupin's vision. Tonks was here for him. He had left her and their child, he had deserted her in her time of need, and not only did she take him back and continue to love him no matter what; no, she was here risking her own life to make sure that he was alright. Emotion swelled in his chest so strongly that for a moment he almost forgot to fight back, and just barely missed yet another bolt of green light.

"Dora?" Lupin yelled over the din, his voice shaking. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to leave when I did."

"I know, Remus." Their hands found each others' as wands waved and jinxes shot across the Great Hall. Husband and wife, back to back, until the end.  
All of this time. He felt the cold creep up from his feet as true fear of his fate began to seize his heart for the first time in months.

Why had he pushed her away for so long? He loved her, there was no denying that. Tonks was the only woman who had ever seen him as simply Remus, rather than Remus the werewolf He had found late in life what he had been searching for since he was seventeen-- only a wife, but a best friend, a companion, a lover, a confidant, a soul mate.

His mind began to wander…

_It had been a cold, wet evening, particularly for early July, and they had just left the Burrow after a late dinner. There was no movement in the neighborhood, save the meandering couple, and they fell into a comfortable silence. Soon, Lupin heard Tonks sigh quietly, and knew just which thoughts ran through her head. He had wanted to ask her for some time now, it was true, and his fear did not lie in her possible rejection—no, he knew she would say yes before he even finished asking the question. No, it was fear of his fate being thrust upon her as it had been upon him—becoming isolated, becoming an outcast, feared and hated by all who knew his secret._

_  
Before he could stop it, however, the words burst forth from his lips—"Marry me, Dora."_

_  
She had thrown her arms around his neck and breathed her answer into his ear, excitement choking her so that she couldn't speak louder than that. _

_  
_They had been happy then, deliriously, deliciously happy. For just a moment, Voldemort and Death Eaters faded into the background—Tonks and Lupin were the only people in the world who truly mattered.

His reverie was broken by another stream of deadly green light. A small yelp, and suddenly, Lupin felt the shivering hand within his go limp. Tonks slumped to the floor, her weight heavy against Lupin's legs.

Lupins' heart stopped. All he could hear was blood pounding heavily in his ears as the room spun around him. With newfound strength, he blasted Avery out of the way, and then knelt down next to his lifeless wife.

"Dora!" He bellowed, shaking her shoulders roughly. "DORA!"

"She's gone, Remus," a gentle voice said from behind him, and he turned, finding a solemn-faced Arthur Weasley behind him. Carefully, he helped his shaking friend to his feet, handing Remus the wand that the latter had dropped somewhere in his haze. "Why don't you leave the Hall for a little while, maybe go sit somewhere?"

"No." Lupin did not look at Arthur; his face was expressionless as his glazed stare remained fixed on the motionless woman at his feet. A moment later, his eyes hardened with grief and anger. "I have to fight. I must do this, Arthur."

Suddenly, a movement behind Arthur caught Lupin's attention as Avery stirred from the curse with which Lupin had momentarily rendered him unconscious. Arthur noticed before Remus, and moved quickly to hex Avery, but the Death Eater was too fast as Arthur was hexed out of the way and Avery rose to his feet. Lupin, his reflexes slowed by grief, aimed his wand at Avery, but tears blurred his vision, causing his jinx to soar over Avery's head and crack the stone wall behind him.

Another flash of green light, and then darkness. Remus Lupin crumpled as though in slow motion, as all of the strength that had built up within him for so many years left his body.

His broken body lay on the floor of the Great Hall beside his wife's empty shell. They could not hear as Arthur shouted their names, as other Order members realized the fate of the couple, as grief filled the room, and as the battle continued to rage. No, they lay on the floor together, side by side.

Husband and wife, back to back, until the end.


End file.
